Moving to a new country
2008-05-07
Hannah from Kite Club sent me this great email:
I am an artist/musician/educator/mother and all the rest.I was living in Chicago and raising my kids, teaching art, and playing out with my beloved band. And I just couldn't stand our situation any further. The gunshots, the schools, the crumbling infrastructure, the leased SUVs, G. Bush, and on and on.
Don't get me wrong - Chicago is filled with ethical, educated, creative movers and shakers. But I was visualizing something else for me and my family.
I found online teaching jobs, my husband got our house shored up and entirely rentable, and in 2005 we four moved to a little stone house on the banks of the Seine just 40 minutes south of Paris, France.
Where we live is 360 degrees beautiful. The schools are excellent. Guns are banned. The culture is not propped up by credit. Our kids are fluent in French. We have learned so much.
I miss my band and the Chicago scene, but have had to switch gears and my songwriting has taken off, and now I am working on guitar technique and singing, and recording at home. And along the way I have found people around here to play with, and we've played out at a few parties. This is not what I was up to in Chicago, but I am grateful just to stay in motion.
I was just hired to teach design at Parson's Paris, which is a top art school, and a major feather in my cap. Last year we bought a house here. My husband and I are both painting a lot and exhibiting our work here.
Who knew? It worked.
Moving to France is a small thing, but it was a leap for us. The details have one by one settled into place. The quality of our life as a family is so much higher than what we had crafted for ourselves in Chicago. Our creative and professional lives are on track and thriving. And we work less, and spend much more time together. I am grateful daily.
First thing I thought is, “You can just DO that? Just up and move from Chicago to France, family and all?” Maybe this is more of an American mindset I'm stuck in, where moving out of the country feels like such a big deal. (Versus the European mindset where it's probably no big deal to move from Sweden to Germany.)
Moving to a new place is such a great way to force good change.
I had been thinking about moving to London for a while, then one day just went online and booked a flight, 2 months in advance, with a return date 7 months later. I didn't know the details yet, but forcing this action just got me over the hurdle of doing it. Same with India. Just booked it, impulsively. It can be that easy. (Frequent flyer miles help.)
My friend Nikki was a promoter in Las Vegas, then just used some frequent flyer miles to book a trip to China to study karate. She loved it and now lives there, working in Xi'an. My friend Karla, a journalist, moved to Argentina and now does her freelance journalist work online. Since the cost of living in Argentina is so much less, she only has to work part-time, and can spend the rest of her time writing a book.
Any other stories of a big move being the best thing you ever did? Please leave a reply in comments. I love these stories.
Not quite as big, but I just moved after 10 years in Austin, Texas, to St. Paul, Minnesota. Moving away from Texas does feel like moving to a different country ;-)
No radical change has come to my music career yet, but moving did change my mindset, and I'm hopeful that the new outlook will start manifesting positive things in life, especially now that we're finally settled in and the weather is getting better.
ari
Hi Derek!
Our big move was in 2005. Not a big move in mileage, but in a completey different sense: The house we lived and worked in, including our studio, had been sold to a new owner. We knew we needed a new place. We lived on the outskirts of Munich, Germany. At first it was a shock for us, but then we understood that it was a challenge. We decided to become open for the new situation and find a new place that would be much better for us. For almost a year we drove through Bavaria, not looking for a special place but just to get a feeling of where it might be good to live. Finally we picked a region in the southeast, where one could see the mountains. After that everything was a snap. Within two weeks we found a house in a small village. Only 100 people live there. We didn't know if it was a good idea as musicians to move into a small village, far from the bigger cities, with neighbours that are farmers. Would they welcome us?
We took the challenge.
Today we live in the most beautiful house we ever had. The view from the studio is almost 360 degrees with a spectacular view of the alps. There is a wonderful lake, just 5 minutes away where we swim and sunbath.
The village people are our friends now, never before have we been invited to so many birthday parties, with so much joking and laughter.
Living is much cheaper than in the Munich area, and we need to work less for a living.
We feel like millionaires, because our live is wonderful, and we have time to do what we love. Our creativity has increased, we have produced so much music since we moved here.
The first album that was written and recorded here is "Feels So Good", and it was created with a feeling of gratitude for the wonderful life we have now: http://www.cdbaby.com/bluestarmusic4
For us the challenge was not to move to a new county but to move to the countryside.
Some of my favourite people have moved to Shanghai, Australia (Sydney), Australia (Perth), Hong Kong, France (Paris), France (Bordeaux), Los Angeles (2 of them) the list goes on...
None of them think it was a bad idea to move from London and several of them now have families. London is great, but it's tough.
Well, I just upped and moved to Cologne in Germany in 1999. I was working at GamesDomain (when it was a tiny startup in Birmingham, UK, long before it got swallowed up and dumbed-down by Yahoo) and used to joke I was the top man in the UK for PHP (I was probably one of the first PHP programmers in the UK, when it was php/fi). This didn't go unnoticed, and I got offered a job in Germany.
I've been here, boom and bust, nearly ten years. Admittedly I was single, and could just up-sticks and go. I didn't speak german at the time I moved here (I had actually been told at school that I would never speak another language). I've done more music and been in more bands here than I ever was in the UK. I've even ended up doing english comedy to germans!
I certainly wouldn't want to go back to the UK permanently. Every time I visit, things seem to have gone from bad to worse.
Many of my friends often tell me how lucky I am to move from one country to the other so easily.
My answer is always the same: I'm not lucky.
It has nothing to do with money or luck.
It's a mindset and a sacrifice.
By sacrifice, I mean that you always leave something behind when you're travelling. It can be material, your friends, your job, whatever.
Meanwhile, by staying where you are, you're also making a sacrifice.
You're willing to travel but you don't because you're scared.
Scared of the unknown, scared of losing your routine.
Life is about discomfort as is travelling.
The (bad) experiences you get from travelling are the ones you'll remember the most.
My best travels have been the ones where it was somewhat painful.
It's not about finding the best place, it's about living an exciting life.
I hate routine. I get bored so easily by doing the same things over and over. Travelling is not an escape, it's an adventure.
It's meeting people and cultures you'd never know otherwise.
That's why I don't like travelling for 1,2 weeks.
It's not enough. It's too formatted as a vacation.
That's also the reason why I don't like visiting the "must-see" places on each country. Okay that's not entirely true, but what I'm saying is the first thing I'm doing when I'm in a new country is to walk randomly, to stop on a local store, to talk to locals (talking with my hands is more accurate).
For example, if you go to France and only visit Paris, you're missing 99% of what France is all about.
Or, if you decide to go to Paris and only visit the Eiffel Tower and The Champs Elysees, you're also missing 99% of what Paris is all about.
But if you go to Paris and decide to spend a day walking randomly through the city, you'll discover far more and you'll get a better idea of what Paris is all about.
Travel like an explorer and get ready for the unexpected!
Hi Derek,
In my life I've had two major lifechanging moves. The first was that just after my son was born in 1998 we decided to take the plunge we'd been thinking about for years. We gave away all but a few boxes worth of stuff that we shipped via UPS and moved to a yurt in the Missouri Ozarks with no electricity or running water. Of course we also had minimal bills at that point and were able to get by on as little as $300/month. For a number of reasons we were only able to do this for a couple of years. During that time, though, and for the couple years after that in which we lived in a small house in town nearby, I was able to provide my son with 2 nearly full-time parents. It was also almost like a full-on 2 year retreat. Not in the religious sense but more in a developing myself and reassessing my priorities and beliefs sense. I blogged about it the whole time (a good place to start would be the yurt FAQ here http://tyrtle.wordpress.com/yurt-years-faq/ but there are years of entries after that).
In late 2003, disgusted with the direction the government in the US was taking, we decided to make good on the "threat" my wife and I made back in during the 1992 Republican National Convention where we said "If the Republicans get any worse, we're moving to Canada." I did a bit of job hunting and by January we were on our way to our new life in Toronto. This was a good move on a few fronts. First off, while Toronto has a reputation as one of the more dangerous cities in Canada, its violent crime rate is significantly lower than most US cities. As homeschooling parents, we've got many more resources at our disposal now and many more kids of all sorts to hang out with. Yurt life was good but I think I prefer parenting in the city just for what it does to one's worldview. Finally, having moved to a city I realized that I no longer needed a car. We donated our car to an NPR station a few weeks after we arrived and almost exclusively use public transit/walking now. Last year I started cycling as well and in addition to being a fast and 'green' way to get where I'm going, it improved my health and fitness dramatically.
"Your mileage may vary" but in my case, these huge moves were some of the best choices I have ever made.
I moved from New York to Dublin on a whim, with no regrets. Sitting in a bar in the West Village at 3am, watching the 2000 election returns with Florida flipping red-blue-red-blue-red, I just decided that enough was enough. I checked an Irish jobs site to find an employer, got an interview in their New York office and moved about 3 weeks later. It all seems kinda brave in retrospect, but at the time I just wanted to get out of there.
The funny thing is, now that I've been living in Ireland for a while, I've found a level of cultural connection that I never experienced in the States. The career is another funny thing - after going up-up-up in New York, each job I've worked at in Ireland has been for considerably less pay but considerably closer to music. I've picked up Irish traditional music since coming here, and now I enjoy the camaraderie of playing "sessions" all the time. I've started writing more music, but in a traditional Irish genre where the structured framework helps push my creativity along. I never would have thought of myself as a player of "folk music" -- but here I am, and it's wonderful. And now I'm just finishing an MA in Ethnomusicology, just for fun. Ireland doesn't (yet) have the "hurry culture" of the US - people work hard, but know when it's time to go down to the pub. When I got here, it was frustrating: I wanted everyone to work with the same drive as a New Yorker. But now I'm seeing that it's actually a lot more productive in the long run to spend some pub-time -- stop and recharge a bit.
I certainly would do it again - but this time I wouldn't be just trying to *leave* the US. This time I'd be trying to *arrive* somewhere sane and beautiful.
Setting a date on action is very powerful stuff. It's like when you're chipping away at your album, a bit here, a bit there...and it's been going on forever. THEN you book in with your Masterer! OH SHIT! A DEADLINE. Man, do you get things done in a hurry. Productivity soars!
My move was across Australia. Same country, but a massive move it was. Not Because of the "stuff" i had to move, but because of the way it unfolded.
A few months earlier i had just completed the soundtrack to a film called CORAL SEA DREAMING, and was living in Adelaide, South Australia, my home state. I was young, with no ties, and was on my way back from a festival in Queensland when i just dropped in to the record company (near Sydney, New South Wales), and would plan my trip back from there.
I stepped out of the van, and as soon as my foot touched the ground i said to myself "i'm gonna move here, right now". I walked into the little unassuming cottage which was the home of the label and declared "hi everyone. I'm moving here. Can a borrow the phone? I phoned home and made arrangements. Too easy. no second guesses. Just positive will.
You can never make wrong choices. It's the decision making that's torturous.
On the day of 9/11, we were living in a tiny town in the middle of America's bible belt. We ended up at the local Wal-Mart at 9 PM, the only other customer happened to be a good friend, and we stood in the empty store with a thousand televisions set up in every aisle blaring the news, filled with just - hate - and our friend said, frantically, "This country is insane. We need to get in a car and drive north and move to Canada."
And, you know, two years later we were talking to an acquaintance about how tempting that idea had been, that we'd been thinking about Canada for thirteen years and what a lovely dream it was, but it could never *really* happen and she said, "But... Why not?"
And you know, we didn't have a good reason for why not. In 2004 we started the gears turning and my partner found a job ridiculously quickly (we were anticipating years; it took 2 months) we got in on a work permit, and are currently waiting for our permanent residency, which is the first step to Canadian citizenship.
We have never been happier.
I come from a family that has lived in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area for as far back as you can trace on both sides of the tree... well before it was even made a state. I have a cousin in Dallas and a cousin in Alabama, and everyone else as wide as you want to go in the extended family lives in Tulsa County, so you can imagine that my moving to Chicago was a pretty huge deal. It certainly felt like going to a different country.
My wife (who is from Chicago) was going to school in Tulsa, we met, fell in love, prayed about where to settle and both agreed Chicago was where we were supposed to be.
I had been a struggling musician in Tulsa for a few years. Saying that the music scene there is limited is like saying Phil Spector is a little strange. Upon arriving here, I tried the whole "day job to pay for the music career" thing and was beyond miserable. I kept feeling that God was impressing upon me to focus on music as my main source of income and things would be far beyond where they were... didn't make much sense.
Fortunately, my wife is incredibly supportive and gave me the extra nudge (firm kick in the rear?) I needed to step through it - crazy as this seemed... new wife who depends on me, in a strange town, all my friends back home, credit mounting, bills mounting, and music is gonna fix all this?
Well, I stepped out and did it. I've been a professional musician for over 2 years now. I'm happier than I've ever been, I'm making more money than I've ever made in my life (actually over double what I made at any job before... even working as an accountant), we have no oustanding credit, my "workable" hours doing shows figures in around 15-20 hours a week - allowing more time for my family, recording demos for pitching (new to that game), etc. And being up here playing has given me the exposure that is responsible for a deal that might take things to the next level already.
That "deal" required me to go to L.A. and drive myself around town to the studio and some other businesses for a week... had I not been doing this for these past years, this Tulsa kid would've been eaten alive out there.
Guess that's about it... short version. World issues and political party bashing had nothing to do with it.
Hi Derek,
When I was 19 years old my band Jeremiah Freed was signed to Universal Records. We put out an album with them, played shows with everyone from Lynyrd Skynyrd to The Strokes.. Long story short the label gave us no support. The band moved to LA and I decided to stay in Maine and work on my own music.
I put out my own record last year and it has done very well. My band and I could play and sell out a 150 person venue, and things were only growing. The problem was the New England winters were getting to me. Everyone in Portland, ME just grinds it out for most of the year, waiting for the few good months of sunshine and good times..
So one winter morning I woke up hungover, after going to the same music venue with the same bands and the same people, same two feet of snow on the ground. I thought "What the hell am I doing here?"
One week later I had packed up just my PA and guitar, said goodbye to my friends and family, and moved on a whim to Charleston, SC. I only knew one person down here. I slept on a jail-house mattress in his living room for 3 months, before finally upgrading. I feel like my life has changed so much for the better. Having to go out and start fresh in an area where no one knows you really makes you work hard, rather than being in a comfort zone.
I still love New England, and it will be nice to visit. Moving to Charleston is the best thing I've ever done. This was 3 months ago, I'm just getting started down here, and I plan on staying for quite some time!
Moving to a cool place where people share your values is a great way to jump-start your life. I lived and studied spiritual life in India for many years, and when I got back to the US it was more like a foreign country than India ever was. For a few years I tried to present the spiritual teachings, but could not get any traction. I wandered from place to place but just could not find a community where I felt at home.
Finally one of my students invited me to Mexico City. I went just before Christmas 2005, and wound up staying for a year and a half, just doing local classes and building up my web site. We are both musicians, but since adopting the role of spiritual teacher I have been doing more writing.
Finally after a short trip back to the US to renew my visa, I realized that I don't care for what is happening in that country at all. So I went on a long trip through southern Mexico and found a place that is just perfect, in a tiny village on the shore of a large lake in a place where in the traditional culture, wizards and holy men are perfectly socially acceptable.
So now we rent a small house on the outskirts of this village for US$50 a month. Our neighbors supply us with fresh organic milk and vegetables for similar prices. We get drinking water from a waterfall that runs year-round near our place. The countryside is drop-dead gorgeous. No crime, no city hassles. A satellite dish links us with the rest of the world. My friends and students come from all over the world for visits and retreats.
Next year we will buy some really isolated property up in the hills surrounding the lake. My students are putting up the money. We will have solar power and keep in touch by Internet. All my dreams are coming true. Dream it; dare it; live it!
love,
Baba
There was a girl who wanted to become a movie director. She was born and raised in Korea. She was 15 years old. All the movies that she watched were in English. She figured that she had to learn this language before she can become a movie director. She decided to go to an English speaking country to get started! Her parents would never let her leave the country alone. She really wanted to leave. She spoke to her school teacher about her dreams and convinced him that she HAD to go. She quit her school in Seoul and enrolled herself at a secondary school in Auckland New Zealand. Her parents helped her with her decision from then on!
That was 12 years ago!
I finished high school and college in Auckland.
During the years in Auckland, I was 'almost' casted to be in 'the last samurai'- but had to give up for my Computer Sciecne FINALS..., I was an alien in 'the power rangers - ninja strikes' :P I met Xena, Lucy Lawless, she actually pushed our car to start up after her show, 'vagina monologue' which was brilliant!
I worked as a waitress and met the All Blacks! Took a trip to the states and fell in love with NY and SF.
And fell in love in SF then traveled a little more to Spain and France.
Then I moved to New Jersey for graduate school.
Now I work in NYC at an investment bank...
I love the art scene in NYC so much I could never have enough of it!
And oh yes! I met my favorite movie maker, Wong Kar Wai last month!
I am also learning how to play the guitar with Brad Craig!!!
And FINALLY I am working to make my very first short film!!!
Juggling 9-5 and my artsy projects is not easy but I do what needs to be done!
The Result of Audacity
Where do I begin?
That’s the question...well like my Nigerian mother said, “begin with what you feel and life fills in the blanks” and she meant it too! Her move from Nigeria to London in the 80’s could be seen by some as a nothing common, just greener grass...yet common becomes uber-sensitive when you leave behind your 1 year old son...right?So why did she leave?
At 4 years old I later joined her in a place I had only heard about in my nursery-coloring book, London! Now in my 22, London means more than just a city. London is that visibly awkward white thread in my not-so-black suit...its an accent I can never shake! But more so it’s a home for the unsung people like my mother...who gave up fertile soil for education, bricks, glass and a pint of Guinness that doesn’t quit taste as good in the rain. I am a south Londoner of Nigerian decent, double trouble! It’s not what you see in the holiday brochures trust me...Bermondsey Lewisham, Peckham, Brixton, Camden..etc places where I’d learn the power of racism and more importantly the value of dreaming, NF marches, football hooligans and black churches all on one surreal monopoly board and a realm of poverty that ropes young black men into not-so-great expectations...just see my self acclaimed bio flicks “Only fools & Horse...and Snatch.
You see the amazing thing about music is that it can take you anywhere and rightly so my eccentric love for it made me quit my design-engineering job, trade my life for a guitar case and a ticket to New York. I remember walking through New York transfixed not by the tourist attractions but by the characters on the street. In comparison to London NY struggles were far from conserved they were vocal, cocky and striking. New York is priceless for most songwriters; every brick and every dirt-smeared sidewalk is accompanied by a story. Unfortunately like London it wasn’t for me!
So 11 planes rides and 11 states later I am still here...growing! However still no strong ties here. During my LA and New York binge, networking was easy; I’ve even met some very influential people nevertheless I am not moved by the fame machine that pollutes everyday reality here. A major problem resides, the music that brought me out of England to the America is extinct here, EXTINCT! I feel like a baby smacked at its own christening. In a time of political revolution today's African American music is far from the picture it’s predecessors fought to realize. Things have been taken for granted!
In London I left behind family, friends, (real fish & chips),the strong pound sterling...to be in America in it greatest and yet most wounded moment. Many would say I should have come when things were better (Clinton?), I came to build and now I can finally answer the question of why my mother left West Africa...she believed strongly that things would change...though it’s a battle, everyday is proof she was right! Naive?.. an idealist hmm who knows but one thing I know is CHANGE is possible here!
Tosin Tao
Hi Derek,
I basically grew up playing in a band.
A month after my wife and I got married, we moved with my entire band from San Marcos, Texas to Northern Ireland during the height of "the Troubles" there in 1974.
All we had waiting there for us, was the promise of a place to stay. We shipped all of our equipment and our band van to England, and picked it up in Manchester, 2 weeks later.
Once we got the equipment, we began playing open air gigs throughout the Northern Irish province. People loved us because (1) we were Texans (2) no one else was coming there to play because of war.
That little (well, maybe not little) move opened up an entirely new world to us...a recording contract and three years of full time playing across Great Britain and Europe. I'm so glad I was dumb enough to do it.
By the way, my wife and I are still together 34 years later, as is the band.
Four years ago, my wife and I moved to Oregon from Austin, Texas and loving every minute of it.
-Randy Hill
Hi Derek,
In 2004 I moved from NYC to Montreal to be with my fiancee. As a city I like Montreal much more than NYC, it's easier to live and a lot less expensive (except for taxes). Creatively it was a good move, because I moved in my mind: I stopped trying to have a career and I just enjoyed making a couple new fan with each performance. I do miss living in the US and I will return but also I have the luxury of the border being only an hour away.
Love the blog you do,
Adrian Carr
Thanks for the stories, guys! This is amazing! Even better than I expected.
Just ran across this article that isn't about moving, but a similar wanderlust - about just getting up and going somewhere like Thailand or Africa immediately.
Well, it's more a travel story than a moving one, but my first trip ever outside the USA happened in 2002. I had no intention of traveling overseas, nor could I afford it. One day while surfing online I stumbled across a round-trip airfare to Italy that was too good to believe, so good that i purchased it without even thinking about it.
The dates of travel were a month away from the purchase date and I didn't even have a passport yet.
I sent my passport photo and application in the next day and it arrived just a few days before my plane took off. I had no accommodations booked anywhere in Italy. I got off the plane and took the train into Rome with $200 to spend for a full week. I went to Florence, Cinque Terre and back to Rome, sleeping in train stations and bunking in hostels while living on take-out food, Moretti beer (cheaper than bottled water in Italy) and busking through the streets and hiking along the shoreline trail.
One of the best weeks of my life. My first trip overseas, and a month earlier I had no idea it was going to happen.
It's funny but I got into completely the opposite way of thinking, I was sick of moving around the world! I was bought up in a diplomatic family as a child and ended up moving across the world several times, changed god knows how many schools and got on many many flights. At one point I got sick of it and decided to settle in London, the last posting I was on.
It's only now that I realise how incredibly lucky I was to have lived with people of all races in practically all continents and when I speak to other people who have lived in one area for all their lives, I just find it hard to comprehend at how limited their view of the world is...I cannot even begin to relate to people like that. As such I do have great respect for all of you people who have taken the plunge and moved to other parts of the world.
Ironic it is that America, a place which was formed by people taking huge risks (possible death travelling by sea and possible death in the new weather and land) and migrating to an unknown world is being quoted as an example here where people are resistant to take chances and move again...
In 2005 we moved from Seattle, Wa to Munich, Germany. We'd taken some long vacations in the alps near here and loved it so much. It was always in the back of our mind that we should move there if we could. Once we had our kids we realized we'd better go now while the getting is good. So we went from house, 2 cars, etc., completely settled, to living in an apartment in the heart of Munich in a span of 3 months. We've been here 2.5 years and simply love it. I (dad) get so much more time with the kids because my "commute" to work is a 10 minute leisurely bike ride through the old city. Having health care not tied to your job relieves an undercurrent of angst. The mountains are gorgeous, and with all the holidays and vacation time we get to explore a lot. Munich is the 3rd largest city in Germany, but it feels incredibly safe here and we have excellent neighbors and friends. Sometime I also like is that work is work...we work very productively while there. Then home is home. No blackberries or "checking in" all night.
Our friends who "get it" are ones who came here for a relaxing vacation, sat in a beer garden under the trees and realized "wow...this is something special here."
After 8 years in the Seattle area, we decided we wanted some adventure. Life in Seattle was very good, very comfortable, but we always talked about living abroad. We wanted our children to experience a different culture and to grow up bilingual. We talked to several people - some who have done it, others who are thinking of it. The more we talked about it, the more it became a reality.
Once we set the gears in motion, started looking for jobs, everything went so quickly. We decided on Munich for several reasons. We sold off almost everything - house 2 cars, 1/2 our stuff and came over in the longest and coldest winter.
The first year was rough, especially having babies (we had twin 1yo's at the time) but we slowly adjusted. Once spring and summer came, we fell absolutely in love with the city. We definitely miss things about the US - like having lots of choices, shopping on sundays, etc - but nothing that we couldn't live without. We are lucky that we go back to the US every year so we get our American fix that way as well as visit with friends and relatives.
We definitely had to sacrifice a lot - we get paid less here (even with the strong euro) and have less room - no yard or big house. But our quality of life is SO MUCH BETTER. We live in the city so commute times are 10 minutes by bike. We use our car only on the weekends, if even that. We are outside more, we would rather bike/walk/public transport than drive, we recycle more, we eat better foods (although the bakeries are our weak spot) and the people here work to live, not the other way around. Our kids are in a "parent coop" kindergarten that is subsidized by the government so it is really cheap - compared to what we would get the in the states is beyond comparison. Just thinking about that makes us very happy that we live here.
Some things that are still hard for us is the language and the general cultural differences. It's hard for us to meet people because of the language barrier, but it's getting better every day. We had to get used to the non-existent customer service and old ladies yelling at us for unknown reasons.
Now 2.5 years later, we are still discovering small gems in our city and love it even more. We plan to stay here for the long haul!
My story is much the same. Got sick of life in the US...surrounded by people shouting others down LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT! I left it. That was 10 years ago; I came here to France as a single parent with two kids in tow and the clothes in our suitcases. My life not only changed for the better, it's been an outright fairytale. I now have a recording studio situated in the French Alps, my kids are grown and truly bilingual, and we have wonderful friends and incredibily talented people come through our lives almost on a daily basis. And the best part? I have no one trying to tell me how I should live, what I should or shouldn't eat, sticking their nose over my fence demanding to know what I'm doing, no schools telling me I should put my kids on Ritalen and not a thought about a cop pulling me over just because he wants to. Wait, though those things are great, the really best part is I don't have to worry about my job--no showing up in the morning to find out you're unemployed, but even if the firm went completely belly up, I still have complete health insurance for me and my family. Don't believe the lies about universal health care, America!!
If you haven't already, I recommend reading "Tales of a Female Nomad" by Rita Golden Gelman. I was so enthralled with the book that I stopped in the middle and emailed her. We had a nice exchange. She invited me up to her temporary place in Seattle, actually, but I wasn't able to make it before she flew back off to Bali. I had a chance to talk to her once on the phone. Kind lady, and tough as nails in a kind way. The kind of tough you only get to be when you have faced up to the parts of yourself you're the most scared of.
I love your blog. It reminds me that my fears only feel big when my world feels small.
Years ago, I did all the marketing for a band called Eurythmics, well before and after they were successful. I got a great offer from Telstar Records, but did not take it because I didn't think they were a "real record company". A few years later, the company went public and pretty everyone who worked there became overnight millionaires.
I decided that whatever the next job offer was, however "off the wall" it appeared, I would take it. I had to wait quite a few years. Joe Galante at RCA Nashville told me to call if I was ever going to leave RCA UK.
I got bored there and called. Five weeks later I was working in New York and I'm still in the States after 18 years.
Thought I'd love the job and hate the country but it turned out the other way!!
I went back to England a couple of years back for the first time in 15 years. It was a big disappointment.
Now I'm totally happy running a one-man reissue label in Cape Cod!
Hi Derek,
Great story! I did that same thing in 2003. I took a short vacation to Shanghai to meet my then future wife and have a job interview. I returned to the U.S., packed my stuff, burned all bridges, and said goodbye. I went back to China a few months later and haven't been back to the U.S. since.
The whole experience really turned my life around. It was tough at first but I knew my life would be even tougher by not getting up off my butt and really taking a chance to do something larger with my life.
When I was in the U.S., I was stuck both creatively and professionally. I was working in restuarants as a waiter and not getting much music done. Now I work for one of the biggest accounting firms in the world and I have a life that simply defies all my wildest expectations. And, I'm actually starting to enjoy making music again....
Thanks for all your great advice and support through CD Baby over the years!
Cheers from Shanghai,
Jon
Refusion Project
I moved to the island of Sicily when I was in the Navy, and never regretted it one bit. The two years I lived there proved to be the most relaxing and educational period of my life, especially since the Sicilian people are very laid-back and friendly, and I never met, nor was I ever treated as, a stranger while I was there. What a difference between the States, where you have to "be" somebody, and being "somebody" just because you are !!
I recently, for the fifth time, just up and moved to another country. First was Scotland for only 4 months (my first time), then Holland for 9 months, Ireland for two years, Canada for 8 months, back to the US for a couple of years and now Brazil (so far one year). This last move to Brazil has been the most challenging and it will be the longest as we are planning to stay here for 3-5 years. Also, it helps that this move was not alone, but with my fiance. Therefore, we are adjusting together.
I love the opportunity to live in other countries where I can get a different perspective on "stuff". As a musician, it can be challenging to get into a new music scene and learn the ways in a new environment. Again, Brazil has been the most challenging because I am having to learn Portuguese as most people here to do not speak English. Most musicians identify chord changes using syllables, Do Re Mi...solfège...which was kind of fun to start using since my music school days. Getting into the music scene is taking MUCH longer than most places, but I think everything is South America takes MUCH longer than most places!
I do quite often wonder what it would be like to be living here without having the opportunity to get on a plane and fly back to the US when I want. Or living here without the internet communication to the rest of the world.
I have a great great uncle who was living in Brazil when he was in his 20s and he wrote and published a book about the experience. I can say, after reading his book, that what I am experiencing is a cakewalk compared to traveling 100 years or more ago.
Overall, I am very pleased with my experiences living abroad. I look forward to any other international locations we may go next. I never want to become too complacent and I think living abroad has solved that worry!
Saude de Brasil
Jennifer Shelton Licko
WOW! So many stories! I was living in Vancouver, working in film and TV and hating every minute of it. I was making good money but hated the hipocrisy and superficiality of the industry. I packed up and moved to New York to "make it". I spent 2 and half years pounding the pavement and getting distracted by the rotten apple. I decided to get up and leave, got certified to teach ESL and moved to China in September 2006. I found my DREAM JOB teaching English through singing. I taught kids Western songs that I liked and we had a hell of a time! I was there for one and a half years and I recently moved to Sydney to get married. I am going to start getting out on the music scene there and exploring a new and exciting venue. I HIGHLY recommend leaving your comfort zone to shake things up and experience a change. My personal motto is "FACE YOUR FEAR, LIVE YOUR DREAM". I try to follow that rule as best I can. Good luck to everyone out there and thanks to Derek for being a true inspiration.
Lonnie Rathie
Sydney, Australia
Ahh the big move. Years ago I had the idea of moving to London. Illegally....because I'm an American...an ally....so it's alright....It just popped into my head one day, 'I should move to London'. I usually get strange random ideas but for years this one stuck with me. I was working some cubicle job in some office that looks like every other office in America, I looked around and thought 'now'. I had some friends in Greenwich who offered a free place to stay. I had some musicians I knew in London and some potential gigs lined up. So I sold everything I could in California and bought a ticket - with a return ticket 7 months later. I decided to stop in NYC on the way because 15 hours is way too long to be in a plane and why not? NYC is on the way......
Feb 1 2007 - I arrive in London after a lovely 7 hour flight filled with amazingly attractive Virgin Atlantic stewardesses. I'm all 'shits and giggles' as they say....I stroll up to the customs desk, all smiles and happines....and proceed get the interrogation of my life. The little man gives me the evil eye and just bombards me with questions. I was standing at the customs podium for 2 hours being questioned. They then escorted me via security to a tiny little locked 'holding facility' in the bowels of Heathrow airport. Several hours later I was questioned again on my intentions of going to London - this time they MI5'ed me and started asking about roommates I had 5 years earlier, jobs I had 6 years earlier, things that I didn't even remember. Then they put me back in the little room with a lot of hyperactive Foreigners....and a crying girl....and a sleeping Korean....and an Indian with a British accent who thought that I was south african and who said 'innit!' for no reason all the time.
10 hours later - I'm escorted into a little room where they take fingerprints and a mugshot. After which they finally tell me that I am being denied entry and flown back on the next available flight. At this point I'm so tired that I don't even care. Though I did call the guard a wanker....just to use the British slang I had studied up on....shook hands with the hyperactive expatriates in the 'holding facility' and was on my way back to the US - the same day I arrived. They flew me back to NYC because that's where I had flown from. They had to escort me via security to the customs desk in NYC and the agent looked at my passport, looked up at me and said 'Didn't get far didya?'. I got to NYC - looked around - had a panic attack and said 'F*ck it. I'll stay here'.
Reasons for deportation:
I had a guitar with no work permit.
I didn't have a job to come back to in the US
Travel Tips:
Ship ALL your gear ahead of time. Any trace of you being a musician.
Be a better liar than I am.
Be nice to the stewardesses. They'll give you a lot of wine when you get deported.
I moved from England where I was a PA for Andersen, you know what happened with Enron, so I was made redundant. I had always written songs, poems and stories but never gave it my full attention. When I got made redundant I found I could think more clearly, and reasoned that as I had no kids, was unmarried now was the time, if ever. Moved to Ireland, by chance, it wasn't planned at all. Passed a studio 'Sun Studios, Temple Bar' and stepped inside. My plan was to record the lyrics to send out to labels for other bands/singers to perform. After recording the first track 'What U Got 2 Prove' I was chuffed, and blown away by what I had achieved (it was a big thing for me) that was 4 years ago. I have since recorded a 12 track album, am currently recording my 2nd album, also completed an MA in Screen writing, did some modeling, acting, film making, and learned Thai Massage, although I did that in Bangkok. All of this from moving from England. Not to say that I couldn't have done this if I hadn't moved but I believe when you stay in the place where you were born and raised you get kind of comfortable, too comfortable. Take yourself out of your comfort zone and you open up your world and your heart.
I moved to Norway at the age of 16 for 13 months. No prior connection there other than the desire to live in a small mountain village and get closer to old granite, hiking, camping, and older ways of living. I did all of those as an exchange student with a Norwegian family that year -- spoke dialect like a native after 6 months and went to school. Rode trains all over Europe alone and with others during vacations and learned a lot about the world outside America. Have been back for short and long stretches (busking, performing, camping, visiting) ever since (over 30 years). There is no end to the things that have grown for me from that first visit. Suffice to say it was a really good idea.
In a similar way I made a snap decision at the end of 2007 to move off the US Mainland to Hawaii. I got rid of everything (**everything**) except my essential guitars and a bit of other music gear for performing and recording. All other things I cared about I gave away including all furniture, bookshelves of vintage books, thousands of LP's and CD's, many guitars, a piano and other instruments. I then moved via Fed Ex which gives you an idea of how few things I had left. Hawaii was until recently very much another country so I include it here too. Nothing is the same as the Mainland including language, plants, animals, weather, customs, values, music, art, stories, you name it. So I reset my clock again which has been very valuable and engaging.
I was born and raised in Ohio and lived and worked in California, New Orleans, NYC, and spent many years in the San Francisco Bay Area including SF, Palo Alto and Burlingame. My parents both came from Brooklyn.
A place I live affects my creativity more than anything. I was born and raised in Japan where I picked up singing, guitar playing and songwriting in my childhood. My family moved a few times within the region; but, the first big move for me came in 1977 when I decided to leave home and go to school in the States.
I came to Seattle and became on my own for the first time in my life. Soon enough, I experienced an overwhelming change in writing. I just couldn't stop writing; a few years later, I moved to LA; where I got to study music for a yeart. Could I write? Naw. I was in the middle of Hollywood; and my classmates urged me to stay there and find opportunities; but, my boyfriend (now my husband) and I left LA came back to Washington State, got married and settled down in Seattle. Once again, I started writing like crazy. I was working as a songwriter with a publisher in Japan which I got connected through winning the biggest songwriting contest in the nation then; things moved on but didn't yield much; projects failed mainly because I was so far away and before this internet age.
Fate comes in when you are not looking. My husband lost his job at the same time. We ended up moving to Japan; thinking we will give it a shot for a couple of years and another try for me in Japanese music industry. I was so scared, however, to leave Seattle where I could write more than any other place I ever lived.
But, we made the move which was a huge change for both of us. This was the first time for my husband to live somewhere other than his home country and for me to return after over a decade. I reconnected with my contacts in music business and started anew as a writer while moonlighting in translation; we stayed there for 18 years.
Though I wasn't in the region I came from, my writing overflowed, after the first year back when I went through a cultural shock even worse than what my husband did.
Today's Japanese music business is unfriendly, uninviting, uninspiring, but quite discouraging for writers unless you have name value as an artist, youth, or ignorance. We wanted to come back to the States much earlier, but one thing or another prevented us to do so for a long time, until summer 2006, which wasn't easy for many reasons, but felt like it was "now or never". It was painful for me to leave my family again, needless to say.
I was once again truly scared if we can land where I will be able to continue writing, like I feared each time I had to move. I have never chosen to move for music; always for something else. Music is the biggest part of me, not a factor to determine my direction in my life; maybe that is why I am still a struggling musician. Be that as it may, it's something I was made to do like breathing/eating/sleeping.
Moving to another country makes you see something you could never see if you didn't make that move, specially about yourself. At least, it's been like that for me. Experience is not always glorious; it could be really hard. But you came to know yourself better than any other way; I did. And, my music shows the evolution I have gone through all these years; I could have never planned any of it.
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Thank you, Derek, for all your support and chances to learn, ensure and reflect! I should look into your blog more and I shall!!
Hi, Derek!
First of all, I´d like to thank you again for emailing me those great 71 pages about getting one´s music noticed! Dude, your advice is SLAMMIN´! ...the best I´ve ever heard!
But, on this subject, I just wanted to share with you that 2 years ago, due to a crisis in my wife´s family-business, we moved abruptly from New York City to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This hasn´t been that much of a cultural shock, as I speak fluent Portuguese (learned from my wife, Margo), but it was a scary notion to opt for disappearing from the NY/USA music scene to a far-away place.
Once here, however, I realized that, as a road-warrior traveling minstrel, in this digital music age, we can do our thing from practicaly anywhere on the globe! So, I~ve kept my NY phone no., turning it into a netphone and maintain myself in the loop, participating in recordings (via internet file transfer) all over the world. I´m currently associated to a scrappy studio here in Rio (musicsolution.com.br) and recording and producing for TV Record (Brazil´s 2nd major tv conglomerate), while traveling frequently to the States, Europe and Asia for sweetly-rewarding performance gigs! Granted, it´s a long commute, at times, but I love life on the road so, BRING IT ON!
My friend, your informative emails and your blog have been a recent wake-up call for me! While I was cruising comfortably, I´ve now been stimulated to shift gears and keep my ass speeding in the fast lane.
You´ve got a friend in Rio, bro! Come on down...my door´s always open to you!
Moving to a new country is easy! No, really.
As I was reading the post about Chicago though, I was going "Yep. Yep..."
I traveled to Africa after my 3rd year at MIT, expecting to go back at the end of the summer and get my degree in philosophy of science. I had been playing a lot of music from a young age, a lot in public, but hadn't fully envisioned my career or my future.
I climbed Kilimanjaroo, and on the top of that mountain, surveying the view, I just had this thought: why don't I just do something I love and know a lot about: music!
Within two days, I was asked to sit in with the Nairboi Symphony (someone borrowed a trumpet for me); there was a harpsichord in the corner, so in a break I sat and played an invention or two. The conductor happened to be head of the East African Conservatoire of Music across the road, and offered me a full time job then and there.
It was also my induction into British society, as it was 1971, and still post colonial in Kenya. Anyway, a good majority of the music I was attracted to as a teenager and college student had been British - from the Beatles, Zombies and Kinks to experimental rock like Floyd, King Crimson and Yes to Elgar, Vaughn Williams and Holst.
I loved Africa, and became in tune with myself and the primordial land energy, spending much time outside in the bush. I honed my senses and became strong.
So, after two years, deciding I didn't want to be a full time music teacher, I planned my assault on London, went back to Boston and met with some of my professors, got one of the first portable synthesizers (ARP 2600), and got on an airplane for London.
Knowing about three people, I auditioned for many bands and played piano in pubs to pay the rent. I eventually found my peers and three years later got that recording contract. Slowly established myself as a session musician, programmer, arranger, conductor, record producer, composer, singer. Then in 1977, started my own record label and publishing company.
Yes, I'm still here, and for some strange reason, I can't imagine creating, recording music anywhere else in the world at the moment but in Neolithic Britain - the West of England. However, just recently my wife and I had the same thought - wondering what it would be like to live in a warm (maybe HOT!) climate!
Watch this space!
Back from Iceland.
Why did I came back (even if Sweden is really great comparing to France)?
I don't know, but I hate myself for this.
You know what the next step is. I do too, but I can't speak in future tense